Buena Vista University's media students and organizations received 33 awards in the annual Society for Collegiate Journalists (SCJ) national media contest.

SCJ's national contest entries are judged by professionals in the media industry. The organization currently has more than 100 chapters across the nation, and all active members are eligible to enter original works in the contest. Each chapter may submit up to three entries per category, with more than 50 categories covering all media formats. The national contest does not distinguish divisions by the size of the school or chapter.

Dr. Andrea Frantz, professor of digital media at BVU and executive board president of SCJ, chartered BVU's chapter in the fall of 2012 and is proud of the number and level of achievements that BVU's chapter members and organizations have received over the years.

"This year's results are especially exciting because they recognize a number of our graduating seniors' work right alongside innovative risk-takers among our underclassmen," said Frantz.

In overall awards, The Tack Online placed third in the overall online news website excellence category. Additionally, BVU was honored with nine first place awards across online, television and radio.

The SCJ national awards that BVU media organizations and students received include:

Online News Website Overall Excellence

Third place: The Tack Online

Multimedia News Story

Second place: The Tack Online, "We are SLHS: Diversity" (Emily Johnson, a senior digital media major from Storm Lake; Madeleine McCormick, a junior digital media major from Huxley; and Nathan Connelly, Class of 2016)

Multimedia Feature Story

Second place: The Tack Online, "Rigged or Righteous: Freedom of the Press" (Madeleine McCormick and Deidree Friesen, a junior digital media major from Storm Lake)